A Broken Crown: A Story of Justice
by Poketrekkie
Summary: 21 y/o Daniel Night has a haunting past, and a vengeance to wreak upon the man who caused his pain. With his trusty poke'mon and his two best friends, Grace and Aaron, by his side, will he be able to restore the crown of his ancestors in time to save his friends, his poke'mon, and his world?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Daniel watched, paralyzed with fear and horror. He closed his eyes and heard two pops, accompanied by the sounds of two bodies hitting the floor. The man holding the gun walked to the bodies, checked pulses, and stared directly at him. Daniel couldn't understand how the man knew where he was. It seemed psychic. He saw the man leave, the image of his face forever imprinted upon his mind.

He took a deep breath once the man had left. He had steeled himself to look at the bodies on the ground. Just as he turned his head to see…

He woke up in a cold sweat. He saw his two best friends. He squinted, trying to make out the strange shape of Grace's sleeping bag. He grabbed his glasses, and could see now that it was stuffed with grass.

He looked around. He saw the trail they had come on to the campsite, and the trees were slightly parted. Barely noticeable, but noticeable none the less.

Getting up slowly so as to not wake his lifelong friend Aaron, Dan snatched Combusken's and Kirlia's poke'balls. Sometimes Grace snuck off to train in the middle of the night, so he brought his pokemon.

"And," he thought to himself, "If it isn't training, Combusken and Kirlia would come in handy."

He crept slowly so as to be quiet. He spotted Grace sitting on a cliff, legs hanging over the edge. She appeared deep in thought.

He figured it was rude to sneak up on her now.

"What's up?" Dan tried to act nonchalant.

Grace turned her head around quickly, startled.

"Just thinking…" She said, "Sorry to wake you."

Dan smiled to himself. It was just like her to blame herself for him waking up, even though his nightmares happened nearly every night. "You didn't wake me." He replied as he sat down next to her.

"Nightmares?" She asked. "After six years, the nightmares weren't any easier, and may even be getting worse." He thought to himself.

"Yep." He sighed.

"Would it help to talk about it?" She asked, concern playing across her face.

"I can't believe how beautiful she looks in the moonlight, wind blowing her hair around ever so slightly." He thought. His crush on Grace had begun about a month after they met. The same thing had happened that night as this one, but that was the first, and he had charged into the woods, and very nearly fell off a cliff. After ensuring that he was okay, she started laughing.

"God, that laugh was mesmerizing." He rambled in his mind. It seemed addictive, as he craved to make her laugh more and more, just to hear it.

All this had been thought in the space of a split second. He told her, "I wish I thought it would, Grace."

At the same time, a debate raged on in his head, over whether to tell her how he felt. His logical side won, again, insisting that he find out if she felt the same about him.

Grace looked at her watch. "Oh! It's three in the morning!" She looked at him and noticed that he was still shaken up.

"Head on back to camp. I'll come by soon." Dan told her.

She shook her head, brown hair framing her face. "I'll wait for you."

He nodded, grateful for the company.

She pulled a blanket out of her bag, and draped it over their shoulders. A bitter wind had begun blowing. Grace scooted over close to him, wishing that he would pull her closer.

He wasn't extremely athletic, but he could handle himself in a fight, a result of growing up in the slums of Slateport City. He was however, very quick thinking and quite often jumped to the correct conclusion without a shred of evidence.

"If he would pull me closer, maybe I could admit to him the way I feel. I don't want us to not be friends because I made a move on him. Maybe he doesn't see me that way." Grace thought.

After fifteen minutes, Grace decided, screw it. She liked him, and that's how it was. She wouldn't make him uncomfortable, though. Just resting her head on his shoulder, she promised herself.

As she laid her head on his shoulder, he seemed surprised, but not uncomfortable, either with her touching him, or the weight of her head on his shoulder.

After a while, he said, "We oughta get back. It's five." Grace was visibly shocked. She peered at her watch, and sure enough, it was five. She must have fallen asleep.

"Why didn't you wake me?" She asked. "I didn't want to…" He wanted to say. "I… uh… I don't know." He decided on a partial truth.

Grace noticed this partial truth, and it pleased her. She didn't have to worry about him not liking her back, so she could take her sweet time. She laid her head back on his shoulder with a sigh. "I would say that we should do this again, but…" She said. "Yeah. Bad circumstances, good situation, right?" His tone showed that it wasn't a question.

She laughed. She knew how much he liked it. She couldn't help it. He smiled. They made their way back to camp still wrapped in the blanket together. Aaron wasn't in his bed. Dan's mind raced. "What if he saw us? I think that he wouldn't mind, having been in a relationship himself, _think_ being the operative word." Dan thought. He quickly unwrapped, as did Grace, and as she folded the blanket, he emptied her sleeping bag of grass. "Thanks…" Grace blushed.

Dan got down on one knee and said, "Your sleeping bag, m-lady." As he presented the sleeping bag to her. She blushed again and accepted the sleeping bag.

Aaron walked into camp as this was happening. "What's going on?" He asked.

Dan thought very fast, to his credit. "We thought we should leave early to get to Rustboro City faster. Roxanne must get more and more challengers as the day goes on, right?"

Aaron seemed to mull this over, and after a few seconds, he agreed whole heartedly. As they began walking down the road, Grace whispered to Dan, "Nice job with the quick thinking." Dan mulled that over, deciding that she was sincere.

"I thought fast, but came up with the wrong answer. I'm exhausted. _And _he won't let up until we all have battled her." Dan told her. "Do you need to rest?" she asked. "I'll be all right." He gave her a weary smile.

"Those nightmares must be horrible. You can tell me whatever you need to. I'm here for you." She told him. He nodded. At lunch, they discussed strategy. "I'm telling you, Types aren't everything. Fire types can beat water types. Water types can beat Grass types." Grace argued. Aaron replied, "At the level of the first gym leader, types matter a lot." Dan placed a sandwich in front of each of them, and said, "Argument over. Eat." And unceremoniously collapsed into his chair. "Dude, what's wrong?" Aaron asked. "Stupid nightmares. Couldn't get a full night's sleep if my life depended on it." Dan mumbled. "Huh. Ask Kirlia to look at those nightmares and see if it can stop them." Aaron told him. "I wouldn't ever ask anyone to see those nightmares even once." Dan said fiercely. "I don't see what could be so bad." Aaron grumbled, hurt. "I'm sorry, Aaron. I haven't got much sleep, but that isn't an excuse to snap. Sorry." Dan told him, looking down. He regretted his anger. "No worries, man. I know how those things affect you." Aaron smiled. Dan said nothing.

Aaron frowned and said, "Dude, not a very sincere apology if you ignore me afterword." Grace shushed him. "He's asleep." Aaron went wide-eyed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When Dan awoke, his first sight was Aaron leaning way over him in an attempt to creep him out. He succeeded. "AHH!" Dan yelled. Aaron and Grace fell on to the ground, laughing as hard as Dan had ever seen them laugh. "Sorry about the yelling. I never knew Aaron's face could get scarier." Dan stabbed. Aaron stopped laughing. "That's not funny!" He said. His words fell on deaf ears as Dan was now on the ground laughing, Grace laughing harder than before.

"A combination of the scare and my joke I guess." He thought. When they all finally pulled themselves together, it was noon. "I slept through the night?" Dan asked, bewildered. "Yup. We were as surprised as you are now." Aaron told him. "So, you two talk about me, huh?" Dan said in his most charming voice.

"Ugh. Don't ever use that voice again!" He told Dan. "How come? It's sexy, right Grace?" He continued the voice. She laughed and replied, "I think so, sexy…" In a seductive voice. Aaron covered his ears. "I swear, if you two start going at it, I'm gonna kill myself. I'm not even joking."

Grace gasped. "I am a proper young lady, and wouldn't dream of 'going at it' as you put it so bluntly, with this ruffian. At least," She added with a devious grin. "Not with you watching, Aaron." She watched as Aaron pretended to be sick. After said performance, they left for Rustboro City.

Soon It came into view. It had a few skyscrapers, but was for the most part was the stereotypical sprawling city. They heard two men brawling. One in a purple outfit, one in a red suit. The man in purple yelled, "Team Toxin will reign with a toxic fist!" He threw a few punches, then knocked the other man to the ground with an attack that seemed to be fueled with rage.

"Hand over the blueprint and I won't hurt you. Much…" the Team Toxic grunt said. "Hey! Asshole! Knock that off!" Dan sent out Combusken and Kirlia. The Team Toxic grunt sent out a Koffing. Kirlia knocked it out with confusion, but not without getting poisoned.

"Fine! Keep it! I don't care anymore." The Team Toxic grunt said as he ran off.

"Thanks! He would have left me bleeding in an alley if you hadn't shown up!" Dan ignored him as he stared at the poison burn on Kirlia. She shuddered.

**So, there we go! This is my first fanfic, so don't make me hate myself if I misspelled 'go' or something! Heh. Review to give any advice, and if you really want something to read, and enjoy a good read, find The Flame of Life by Krimson Kane. It is rated M, though, so you have been warned. It is a pokemon fanfic too, so if you enjoy that kind of stuff, read it! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Guys, Thanks to Animewolves for being my first follower! **

... Kirlia shuddered. Dan looked for an antidote in his bag. Coming up empty, he asked the others. "I got nothing." Grace said after searching her bag. "Me neither. Sorry man." Aaron said. The man in the red suit got up with the assistance of Aaron. "My thanks, young man." He said as he handed Dan a Great Ball. "I know that it isn't an antidote, but if you find a poke'mon you want to catch, that will make it easier." The man walked off.

Dan put Kirlia into its poke'ball, saying, "I am sorry that you can't stay out." He ran right through the forest, ignoring any trainers or pokemon who tried to battle him. He rushed into the Poke'mon Center, panting and asking Nurse Joy to heal Kirlia quickly to stop the poison. She picked up the poke'ball, and put it on the healing station. She handed Kirlia back to him, and wished them a nice day. After ten minutes of waiting, Grace and Aaron showed up, sweaty, and generally needing a long rest in the AC. They walked to the hotel.

"Three rooms for one night please." Dan said. The clerk handed him three keys, saying, "Rooms 507, 508, and 509." Dan thanked him. Grace and Aaron each rushed into their respective rooms to take a shower. Dan, shaking his head, went to the Gym. He saw a boy with a Tailow battling Roxanne. "Use Wing Attack!" It seemed to do nothing to the Geodude. It used rollout, knocking the Tailow out. "Aww man! We'll need to train more."

Upon entering the Gym, Roxanne exclaimed, "Please tell me you don't have flying poke'mon. That kid was the fifth today." Dan told her that he had no flying pokemon. She sighed in relief. "Thank God." The battle began. He sent out Combusken. She sent out Geodude. "Combusken, use Double Kick!"

**Sorry about the short chapters, I'll try to lengthen them. Been rather cut on time, so we'll see!**


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